1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a multifunctional peripheral thereof, that performs image formation by an appropriate image forming process, such as an electrophotographic image forming process, an electrostatic recording image forming process, and a magnetic recording image forming process.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is an image forming apparatus configured such that a part of its exterior cover is formed as an openable/closable door to enable a user to carry out handling a paper jam. As such an image forming apparatus, for example, a part of a sheet conveyance unit is disposed in the door, and the door is freely opened or closed by using a lower portion of an image forming apparatus body (apparatus body) as a supporting point. During the jamming processing, this door is opened, so that the sheet conveyance unit is widely opened. As a result, handling a paper jam is facilitated.
A certain image forming apparatus includes an openable/closable door for opening an apparatus body to replace a member disposed in the image forming apparatus, such as a cartridge for supplying consumables such as toner or ink, or a rotary drum to be replaced due to aged deterioration. A member, such as the rotary drum, to which a driving force is transmitted and which is replaceable is maintained in a state where the driving force is transmitted during normal time when the door is closed. During maintenance where the door is open, it is desirable to maintain the rotary member in a state where the rotary member does not receive any driving force during the maintenance for facilitating its replacement.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,903,997 discusses a configuration using a connection unit for arranging all components, where opening/closing of a door is performed in conjunction with separation of a driving roller of an intermediate transfer unit, on one axis to achieve the compact door and improve durability.
However, in such a driving connection unit, in a closed state of the door, pressure of the driving connection unit is received in a direction for opening the door. Thus, when the door is a conveyance door where a conveyance path for conveying a sheet is formed together with the apparatus body in the closed state, sheet conveying performance may be affected. To solve the problem, a toggle or a link mechanism may be provided. However, this increases the number of components, causing difficulty in miniaturization of the image forming apparatus, and a production cost increase.